


A Simple Misunderstanding

by EntreNous



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Boys Kissing, Confusion, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-10
Updated: 2005-11-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 00:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/754614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EntreNous/pseuds/EntreNous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Larry demands to know more about how Xander has "been there"; Xander, it turns out, has a kiss-and-be-kissed knee-jerk response.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> Set during season 3, "Phases", and originally written as part of a [smut_69](http://smut-69.livejournal.com/) challenge.

Xander stumbled as he ran behind the gym in search of a place to hide.

Running and hiding was becoming something of a specialty with him, what with accompanying Buffy on patrol as a regular thing now that Angelus was around. Lots of opportunities to hone his skills of cowardly stealth. But as good as he was at it, he had to admit that the hiding part of the equation held way more charm than running frantically, especially when places to hide were in short supply. The school grounds weren’t exactly made for dark and obscure shelters, with their open layouts and communal spaces. Stupid Southern California design principles.

But then he spotted some welcome shade in which he could skulk -- the tall shadows cast by the dumpsters to the right of the gym. So he scrambled behind one, taking a few deep breaths before he peered around to see if Larry was following him.

That afternoon, when he’d decided that Larry was the werewolf they were searching for, confronting him on his own had seemed like a great idea. And it hadn’t gone so very badly, unless you counted the part when Larry had threatened to put his fist through Xander’s face. Xander had tried to tell Larry that he’d been there, but before he could explain about the hyena situation a group of Larry’s teammates had stormed into the locker room and started to approach Xander, threats clear in their expressions. So Xander had taken off like a shot while Larry had been in the middle of protesting that he wasn’t like Xander, that he had a reputation to protect.

Now he could only wonder how Larry was going to combine protecting his reputation with his earlier proposal to put his fist in Xander’s face. It was only a matter of time before he hunted Xander down, and Buffy couldn’t stay by his side at every moment of the day and night. Still, the longer Xander could delay the bruising and beating with his tried and true methods of avoidance, the better.

“Harris,” a deep voice said as a large hand gripped his shoulder. Oh great; Larry had come up from behind him while Xander had been keeping watch. Xander tried not to make an eep-ing noise as he turned around slowly.

“Lar,” he said heartily instead. “Good work there with the quarterback sneak-attack strategy. Never would have seen you coming, pal.”

“So you’ve been there, huh?” Larry said in a gruff voice. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “How do I know you’re not just saying that, trying to get information from me?”

“I’m not just saying it, because it’s true,” Xander replied. He tried not to focus on the way Larry’s hand was still on his shoulder, or the way Xander turning around and backing against the dumpster had put only a space of three inches between them. “Remember Tor and Kyle?”

Larry looked stunned. “Those two guys that transferred after Principle Flutie was attacked by wild dogs?”

“Those guys,” Xander confirmed. “See, we got into it together, and the three of us --”

“The three of you?” Larry whispered.

“Um. Yes,” Xander said. He stopped, considering. “I mean, Heidi and Rhonda were in the picture, but not as much with the . . . ” With a vague hand wave, he trailed off.

“Wow, I mean . . . wow,” Larry said. He took a step closer, which Xander would have said would be pretty impossible given how close together they already were, but he managed it. “So you . . . with them?”

“It didn’t last long,” Xander said hastily. “I hung out with them for like a day or two. And I wasn’t into some of the more wild stuff they got up to.”

“Right,” Larry said. His eyes had gone very wide, and his voice had become softer. “Xander. You probably think I hate you.”

“No, no,” Xander protested. “I mean, yes,” he acknowledged. “What with the taunting, and the bullying, and the . . . but in more of a friendly way, right?”

Larry shook his head, and Xander felt like his heart was plummeting to his feet. “No. I don’t hate you at all. And I didn’t know . . . if I’d known . . . ” He stopped, and for a moment the two of them just stood there, breathing in and out with their gazes locked. Finally Larry cleared his throat. “See either of them anymore?”

“Who?” Xander asked in confusion. “Oh, you mean -- no, haven’t heard from Kyle or Tor since they left.” He laughed uneasily. “They never call, they never write.”

“And you . . . with anyone else?” Larry said slowly.

“Nope,” Xander shook his head. “It really was a one-time deal, after what happened at the zoo, and I don’t think, mmmphrmm,” he closed when Larry had surged forward and kissed him on the lips.

And damn his kissing conditioning, tweaked lately by Cordelia and their tawdry clandestine make out sessions. Apparently his body was primed for a knee-jerk be-kissed-and-kiss-back kind of mode. That had to be why his hands came up to grip Larry’s broad shoulders, had to be why when Larry moaned and pressed forward, an answering moan came from Xander’s mouth and he actually deepened the kiss on his own. That had to be why he bucked his hips forward when Larry’s hands slid down to cup his ass, why he worked his tongue between Larry’s eagerly parted lips, and why he actually growled when Larry panted and kissed helplessly and pretty much gave himself over to Xander.

The bell rang, distant and muffled from the hiding place the two of them were now sharing. “Wow,” Larry said again. “I have to go to practice,” Larry added, backing away. Then he stepped forward and gave Xander another kiss. “I can really tell,” he said shyly.

“You can tell what?” Xander asked. He licked his lips.

“That you’re more experienced, since you fooled around with Kyle and Tor,” Larry explained. “I mean, I know you figured out I was gay, but I didn’t realize when you said that you’d been there . . . ” He shook his head, and gave Xander a sunshine-y smile. “Bye Xander.”

“Bye,” Xander said in a daze as Larry sprinted off. “Oh boy. That in no way went as planned.”


End file.
